The New Boy Next Door.

Chapter 2.

This is a dream... this has got to be a dream.

I pinched my arm and felt the sting and finally realized, this isn't a dream. "Aiden, you're paired up with.... Annabelle" Inside squealing only Anna. Do not squeal aloud. Do not embarrass yourself in front of everyone. "Anna please raise your hand so Aiden can find you." I raised my shaky arm into the air and I watched as he packed up his things and walked in my direction. I instantly felt my cheeks get hotter and cursed myself for not wearing makeup more often. Damn you Anna.

He smiled and took the seat next to me and held out his hand. "Hi I'm Aiden." I looked from his hand to his face and back to his hand. He stared at me awkwardly with his hand still facing in my direction and I looked down at my hands. "Um... okay." He withdrew his hand and I inwardly sighed. "Well, this project is due Monday... so, um maybe we can work on it at my place?" I thought for a second and quickly shook my head.

"NO!" I shouted a little to loudly because I received a handful of strange stares, including one from Aiden. "Sorry... But I can't at your place.. my dad has this strict rule, 'no going to boys houses and no boys in your room'." I mocked my dad's voice. "He's a bit of a hypocrite. But... is my place okay?" I shyly looked down at my hands internally yelling at myself for even suggesting that he come over my house.

"Yeah sure." Wait... What? "Your place should be fine. Just give me your address and number and a time that's good for you." DID AIDEN JUST AGREE TO COME OVER MY HOUSE AND THEN ASK FOR MY NUMBER?! I pinched my arm again. and again and one more time, just for reassurance. "Um... you okay?" I nodded and he took out his phone and handed it to me. "Just, uh, put your number in there and I'll text you later and ask when I can stop by." I slowly grabbed his phone, just in case this was a joke and he would snatch it back and a bunch of people from pranked would come out and I'd be the laughing stock of the school...didn't want that at all. I typed my name in under Annabelle and put my number under it and quickly handed him his phone back.

Luckily the bell rang and I was able to jump out of my seat and run out of class before I completely embarrassed myself in front of him. I ran and met Mel at her locker and told her about what happened. "Oh yeah, because getting up and running out of class is a sure way to avoid embarrassing yourself. You go Anna." You could hear the sarcasm practically leaking form her voice. I frowned. "Oh don't give me that face. You should've stayed at talked to him. Knowing you, your cheeks got red." I looked down at my shoes and covered my cheeks with my hands. "You didn't make eye contact, and since you rushed out, he probably thought you had to pee. NO ONE just runs out of class Anna." I sighed and kicked the air in front of me.

"You're right, he probably thinks I'm a complete creep." She shrugged her shoulders and we silently walked to lunch.

Lunch went quickly and all I could think about is how I embarrassed myself. I sighed aloud and Mel rolled her eyes. "Stop thinking about it and just redeem yourself tonight maybe?" She was right, I needed to stop thinking about it. And plus, tonight he's stopping by so maybe I can fix it... or, well, do what I do. Which probably won't fix it.. It'll probably just make it worse. I sighed again and Mel pushed me into a locker. "Shut up you loser." Ouch. I rubbed my arm and walked further away from Melody. "Everything is going to be fine, suck it up you whinny loser. " I smiled slightly at her and she stuck her tongue out at me. I waved to her and walked to the last class of the day.

The class went slow but I didn't focus because I was to busy focusing on tonight. Surely, I was probably focusing on this too much, but hey, I've liked this kid since like 5th grade. But I should pay attention. The teacher droned on and on about whatever this class was about and I suddenly went back to thinking about tonight. My dads going to be home... Maybe I shouldn't invite him over. But he has to come over.

I sighed and suddenly realized that everyone in class was staring at me. I didn't even sigh that loud. "Annabelle.... Would you please tell us how you got the answer to number 7 on the homework last night?" Oh crap. We had homework last night.

"Actually, um I, uh" the bell rung and I jumped out of my seat and finally appreciated the meaning of 'saved by the bell'. I rushed out of the school and ran to the bus. I was normally the first person on the bus and it was because I ran out of the school. I guess that would kind of make me the loser... I just didn't like the place.

The bus filled up and soon I was on the way home and more nervous than ever. I might have forgotten to mention to my mother and father that Aiden was coming over. After a few stops, mine came up and I hopped off the bus and rushed home. I had some preparing to do. Dad's car was in the driveway and I mentally sighed. I opened the door and my dad and mom were sitting on the couch and Jacob was on the floor playing with some of my old toys he had taken a liking to. "Mom, dad, Aiden is coming over tonight to work on a project and I'm going to go upstairs until he gets here. Great seeing you guys, love you and see you when he gets here, bye." I spoke quickly and ran upstairs when I finished talking.

When I got upstairs, I plopped down on the bed and contemplated on how I was going to make myself presentable to the hottest guy in the 11th grade. I didn't really know how to use makeup so that was off the table and all of my clothes were baggy... so that wasn't really ever on the table. So I guess I'm stuck with using my wits to impress him and even in my head, that didn't sound like a good idea.

I heard a door close and a few voices outside and I frowned. That can't be him already? I jumped up from my bed and ran to the window. There was a moving van outside and a family waiting outside while a group of movers put their things in the house. A woman smiled and I assumed that she was the mother and a man grasped her hand and he obviously was the dad. There was a girl around Jacob's age and a boy around my age.

He was tall and from up here, his hair was average. Nothing compared to Aiden's hair. And from here, his face didn't compare either. He glanced up towards my house and I hid behind the curtains. That was close... But apparently not close enough because seconds later, there was a knock on the door. I ran to the hall and waited at the stairs. My mom answered the door and the lady I saw next door politely smiled. She made small talk and made a lot of gestures to the house next door. My mom smiled back and she motioned towards my dad and Jacob and suddenly the rest of the neighbors were at the door talking to my family. And I had a feeling my mom would be calling me soon. "Anna, sweetie, please come down."

I sighed and slowly walked downstairs. My mom smiled and waved me towards the door. "Anna this is our new neighbors, Kelly, John, Lily, and this is Kyle, he goes to your school. Newly enrolled and I volunteered you to show him around school Monday." I looked over at my mom and frowned. And I was hoping that this look would give her that no way in hockey sticks was I going to show him around. She looked over at me and gave me the look that said yes the hell you are and I sighed aloud. "She'd be delighted. Thank you for stopping by. It should be great living next to you guys."

She closed the door I groaned. "Annabelle, you better suck it up. He's new." I rolled my eyes and walked into the living area. "Anna, tone down the sassiness." She flipped her hair and plopped down on the couch.

"Hypocrite." She rolled her eyes at me and frowned. The door bell rung again and I stomped over towards the door and slammed it open. "Yes?!" I answered aggressively. I finally looked at who it was and frowned. "Aiden... haha. Welcome to my home.." I stepped aside and let him inside. "You can just, um sit here" I walked him into the living area and sat him on the couch next to my mom. My dad sat on another couch and I thought it better to avoid the couch. "I'll just go get the supplies, you can wait here."

I ran upstairs to the supply closet and grabbed what I could before running back downstairs. "And this is her when she was five. She just loved getting into my makeup." My mom laughed and Aiden laughed awkwardly. "And this is her at 3, she just got out of the tub."

"Aaaaaaannnnnndddd that's enough." I walked over and took the book from my mom. "Aiden are you ready? Turns out the dining area is way better than the living area." He nodded and I grabbed his hand and dragged him into the room but as soon as I realized what I had grabbed, I let go. "Um... well, we can start I guess."

We worked on the project and by the time an hour passed, I can say that I had a minimum amount of sweat stains and I was proud. His phone binged and he checked it and sighed. "Uh I have to leave, my, uh, mom wants me to come home now... maybe you can finish the project and bring it Monday?" I nodded and smiled. "Great! thanks. See ya... well, Monday."

"See ya..."

Monday....